Praise for Kate Prudchenko’s Stories

"'The Silence of a Death' and 'The Other Mrs. Pfeiffer'--are brilliant! The prose is taut (as Rene puts it) and crisp, the characters and situations are engaging, and the plot twists are reminiscent of Poe, Maupassant, and O. Henry, three of the supreme masters (as you know) of the art of short fiction. (I am also reminded somewhat of Raymond Carver.)"

---Dr. Robert Welsh, Professor of English, Western New Mexico University

"I read 'The Other Mrs. Pfeiffer'--and wow. Powerful impact. I so love writing that is taut and yet conveys so many surprises and such a punch. I much enjoyed the read and seeing some of your other work!"

---Rene Bahrenfuss, Graduate student in English, Western New Mexico University

Regarding 'The Silence of a Death': "Fantastic story, Kate. Really enjoyed reading this. I did a class a few years ago as part of my MA on making the metaphor real, and this reminds me of a number of the stories we read. Very powerful depiction of infant-induced anxiety and strife."

Regarding 'The Craving' "This reminded me of American Beauty with Kevin Spacey in the role of the pervy dad. Fantastic imagery, throughout. Great stuff."

---Loree Westron, the editor of THRESHOLDS: Home of the International Short Story Forum, PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, writer of short fiction that has been highly-placed for awards including the VS Pritchett Memorial Prize and the Fish Short Story Prize.

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Thorpe

Thorpe’s tall tale about the Big Bear of Arkansas is written from an outside perspective but only in an effort to bring the listener into the tall tale that Jim Dogget, the Big Bear, relays to the audience. As a result, the story is almost entirely dialogue. Longstreet’s “Georgia Theatrics,” on the other hand, makes the narrator a more natural part of the story and as a result uses minimal dialogue. Longstreet unfolds the story before the audience’s eyes, from the perspective of the speaker. Therefore, the audience is never really introduced to the narrator and instead discovers him through the details that Longstreet sprinkles into the story (e.g. “he dismounts” means that the narrator was at some point on a horse. This information was never provided directly).

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While both stories contain minimal dialogue, Irving’s tall tale is almost entirely fictional and few people are likely to believe it. It’s a fable, a folk story. Thorpe’s “Big Bear of Arkansas,” on the other hand, is more realistic and probable. Irving tries to ground “Rip Van Winkle” in history by providing the reader with an introduction that indicates that the story was found in the papers of the late Dietrich Knickerbocker but in comparison to Thorpe’s “Big Bear of Arkansas,” it still seems to be only a sketch. As a tall tale is not as believable and appears to be an allegory.

Tall tales are appealing to young America because they capture the imagination of the frontier. Photos are rare and black-and-white and video is not existent. All America has at this time is stories or rather spoken word stories, since many people can’t read and books are expensive and difficult to transport. The spoken word relies on plot and the more exciting the plot (or the essence of the story) the more exciting the story itself. Exciting stories also engage listeners more and are as a result more likely to be retold. As a result unbelievable or almost believable tall tales are ideal vehicles for entertainment in a young America.